


The God of Redemption

by captainofthefallen



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Character Death, Deadfire speculation, F/M, I promise it's fake, but not really, little scene that came to me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 16:04:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11855001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainofthefallen/pseuds/captainofthefallen
Summary: Just some Deadfire speculation and a little thing I wrote. Mostly to give Madison feels.





	The God of Redemption

Why did she think this was a good idea? 

She knew how much they struggled to defeat the adra dragon. She knew, she must have known, that they couldn't possibly succeed at killing an actual god. 

Why did she even bother? 

It's fruitless from the beginning. Eothas can't be stopped, not without the power of another god, and she's not about to go asking _them_ for help. 

So they fight him. Alone. Because they have no choice. Because someone has to. 

_It has to be done_ doesn't change the wrench of agony when her friends start to die. 

Pallegina falls first. She's right in the thick of things, fighting with spells and weapons and trying to call on Hylea's divine (ish) power and it's not enough. A swipe of his gigantic adra hand, and she falls. 

Mara doesn't have to look to know she won't be getting up. 

By the time Aloth falls, she knows this was a mistake. Actual god or not, he's powerful enough that people have believed in him for thousands of years; why did she think she could stop him? 

Aloth is crushed beneath a single adra toe, and a scream tears out of her throat, the terrified, disbelieving scream of a woman who's just lost her best friend. 

Aloth falls, and it can't have been worth it. 

Edér is the last one standing. He always is, somehow, even when she falls. She suspects Eothas is punishing her. Making her watch the deaths of everyone she loves, before the end. 

She can't think of a crueler fate just then. 

He stays at her side, half in front of her, trying to shield her from a being that even he is powerless to stop. She wants to tell him to run, to save himself, to live another day. Eothas has it in for her. Why, she doesn't know, but something tells her that if he runs, he'll be safe. 

She knows better than to ask. 

This is his god, and he swore never to abandon her again. 

Knowing the inevitability doesn't help. Knowing that he's going to die doesn't make it any better when Eothas lifts him up between two fingers and tosses him what might be miles away, and she screams again and falls to her knees because _she did this_ , she's the reason they're dead, they fought for her, for her lost cause, and now she's going to die too and she's _glad_ as Eothas turns back to her, the symbol burning bright on his forehead, and--

She jolts upright, soaked in sweat, staring wildly around the ship's compartment. 

She's alone. But she remembers where she is. Deadfire. The ship. They haven't fought Eothas yet. 

She has to make sure. 

He's not hard to find. He's near the back of the ship playing with the dogs, as usual. 

He looks up when she enters, his trademark grin spreading across his face. "Hey there, Ninet--" 

He's cut off mid-word as she throws her arms around his neck, relief permeating every inch of her body and soul. "You're okay," she breathes, swallowing back a sob as she tries and fails not to think of his body being cast out of sight. 

"'Course I'm okay," he soothes, rubbing her back gently. "What happened?" 

She looks him in the face, wide-eyed and still very much terrified. "I don't think we can do this." 

He shakes his head. "If anyone can, it's us. Besides, it's time we got some payback for Caed Nua." 

"You don't understand," her voice breaks with the desperation, trying to *make him understand* because she can't lose him. She can't lose any of them, and watching them die has come very close to breaking her. "I _saw you die_ , I saw all of you die, and if we try to fight him he'll kill you and I _can't_ \--" Her voice breaks again and she buries her face in his shoulder, sobbing. 

"Hey, hey, it's okay," he says. "I'm not dying any time soon. Promise. And it's not like we're goin' in there with nothing. We'll be ready." 

"You don't _understand_." She's pleading now and she doesn't even know what for, but he has to understand. "I _love_ you, I can't--" 

She stops short. He's gone still, almost like he's afraid to move, like he'll break some sort of illusion. 

"You..." He takes a deep breath. "You love me?" 

She's past the point of caring that it was supposed to be kept secret for his own good. She just nods against his chest, because damn the consequences, she isn't losing him. Not ever. Not to Thaos, or Woedica, or Ondra, not even Eothas. 

He crushes her to him moments later, letting out a shaky breath, and she's reminded inevitably of how he was when she emerged from Ondra's depths unscathed. 

"I love you," he says quietly. "I love you so much, and whatever comes our way, it's not getting through me. No Leaden Key, no Thaos or Woedica or even Eothas--they're not gonna keep me from you. I love you. Understand?" 

She can't find the words. She just nods again, holding him as tightly as she can manage, praying to gods that don't exist that he's right. 

Any hope for the future, as long as he's here, is worth fighting for.


End file.
